Chapter 3, Treasures Up The Mountain

Under the persistence of the three children, Li Jain was forced to eat the not tasty flour paste. His heart was bleeding inside. This is the most disgusting food he had ever eaten. It seems like if he doesn't get out of bed soon, he'll have to eat this all day. The mere thought of it makes Li Jain want to throw up.

It was already late when they were done eating. The triples cleaned the dishes and went to bed soon after. Juanxin insisted on sleeping with Li Jain.

Li Jain was surprised that the children went to beg without taking a bath. But then he remembered that the river was far away from their house. Once the place was finally quiet, Li Jain began to plan his life. This world is kinda the combination of mortals and cultivators, demons, beastmen and so on….  But luckily, they live in a far away village that wasn't advanced and was lacking in so many things.

His other four children, two are working in the restaurant in town to pay off his debt, their lives is miserable. The other two are working for the Liu family and their lives are not much better. After all, among his children, the oldest is twelve years old. Li Jain though of a way to get them back, the only way is to pay back his debt and redeem them is to exchange something valuable.

Only when you are strong, can you have wealth and riches.

Li Jain wasn't worried about his and children's cultivation abilities. With all his experience, he could change things in no time with the right resources.

Whether it's magic or cultivation, one needs a spirit root and attributes to be able to do it. That's why even though there are lots of  opportunities, some people do not meet these requirements and remind mortals.

When Li Jain woke up early the next morning, he cleaned the yard, and cut the grass. Then he went and brought freshwater from the river. He thought about repairing the thatched hut that was already leaking. He climbed up on the roof, lifted the thatch and studied how it was laid. After he understood it clearly, he noticed that most of the plants around seem to have this kind of plant.

After climbing down, he took the sickle, went out and started to cut the thatch. After cutting for a while, he felt that it was enough so he stopped and took all the thatch back and spread them out in the yard to dry when the sun came up. Soul power has made things easier so by the time Li Jain was done, the sky began to brighten. There was no food in the house and there was nothing Li Jain could do about it. He decided to go up the mountain and dig some wild vegetables. 

They lived at the end of the village, close to the mountain. There are dangerous magic beasts up the mountain so most villagers dare not go there. Only some would go there once in a while but they won't go too deep.

Li Jain walked for a while and when he turned around, he suddenly found a small figure running behind him. It turns out that Jing Sheng was chasing after him.

"Where are you going?" Jing Sheng caught up and asked. Still panting from the running he did. 

"I'm going up the mountain. Do you want to go with me?" Li Jain asked. He wants to built a good relationship with the children so he won't miss any opportunity that allows him to.

"Is that okay?" Jing Sheng raises his head and looks at Li Jain excitedly. He thought Li Jain was going to send him back and didn't expect the other party to allow him to follow.

Such bright eyes can easily make people's hearts soften. Li Jain stretched out his hands to rub Jing Sheng hair: "But you have to walk by yourself."

"Okay." Jing Sheng answered decisively, and handed his hand to Li Jain.

Li Jain grabbed hold of it and walked forward. But the road was covered with bushes and filled with deadly objects. He has to carry Jing Sheng on his black, as he uses his soul forced to clear the way. Although the place wasn't totally clean due to the fact that he doesn't have enough soul forced, it was still better than nothing. Li Jain felt pain in his meridians whenever he uses his soul force, which puzzle him. Something is definitely wrong with his body!

Walking up the mountain, there was a hillside to the east. Li Jain saw a plant in the ground which was quite familiar to him. "Ah! Potato. Isn't this potato?" He shouted in surprise.

Most potatoes are small in size but these ones were pretty big. Maybe it's due to the environment. Li Jain couldn't wait to dig them out.

Jing Sheng followed Li Jain's point and looked over. He thought he would see something surprising but he didn't expect it to be the Itch stick. "Daddy, that thing is not edible. The skin itches when people eat it."

Li Jain looked at him with a strange expression and asked with disbelief: "Are you saying, the villagers don't eat these?"

Jing Sheng nodded. Tian Wen's mom also told them not to eat it.

Li Jain shook his head at the child's ignorance and didn't want to explain at all: "We need to dig them all out, we probably can have a full stomach tonight."

Jing Sheng was a bit confused about the requirement that his daddy made. Didn't he just say that this kind of vegetable was itchy? But since daddy said it was edible, it should be, right? He also bent down to help in digging.

The people in the village might not know the difference between the potatoes which is why they ended up with the poisonous ones. The poisonous potatoes have a slightly different texture than normal potatoes. Being slightly smaller and having a greenish color.

After he filled half of the basket, Li Jain straightened up and wiped the sweat out of his cheek and then said to  Jing Sheng: " It's okay, lets go." Half a basket of potato, it was enough to eat for a few days.

The two continued to move forward. Seeing that Li Jain was carrying so many potatoes on his back, Jing Sheng couldn't help but suggest concernedly: "What about we unload the potatoes here, and pick them up on our way home. No one would take them."

It was then that Li Jain realized that only few people can go up the mountain. And the possibility of them meeting someone was even less. But when he thought about the food he ate last night, he hesitated to unload the potatoes.

After just taking a few steps, another vegetation out of his mind appeared when he turned his head around and took a glance at the surrounding places. "It's tomatoes." Li Jain said in surprise

There were lots of treasures up the mountain. After picking three handfuls, Li Jain looked at the small basket that was almost full again and was a little depressed.

"Daddy, is this a vegetable?" Asked Jing Sheng, curiously.

"It may look like a fruit, but it's a vegetable. The rap ones can be eaten without cooking." Li Jain explain as put the tomatoes away.

At the end, he picks green and red papers, some green vegetables along with mushrooms.  

Jing Sheng was surprised that his daddy was able to tell the difference between the poisonous and edible mushrooms easily and quickly. If these things were to be sold, they won't have to worry about not having enough to eat.

Li Jain picked lots of mushrooms and decided to sell them. He didn't forget that man money that needs to be paid. To be honest, Li Jain has never needed money for anything. There were always people giving him these, even the salary he made from working in the mortal world, was given to the orphanage as a donation.

Just as they were about to head down the mountain, Li Jain felt a strange force pulling him in another direction. He was curious to see what it was: "Xiao Sheng, you wait here. Dad will be back quickly."

After saying that, he allows the force to pull him to the west side of the mountain which gives Jing Sheng a fright. Li Jain was placed near a tall tree in a few seconds. When he looked around, there was nothing in sight except for a huge white egg.

There were animal footprints, both large and small. Li Jain didn't know what beast was in the egg but he was sure it was a magic beast egg.

He easily took the egg with no obstacle. But the only problem is to find his way back. What happened just now was like a treasure detector, pulling him where the treasure was but after he found the treasure, it didn't carry him back.

Speaking of treasure detectors, Li Jain remember that he has quite a number of them in his space. Could it be that the space came with him? At the thought of this, Li Jain was very happy. That magic space was one of his greatest inventions, it's so big that he could fit a whole city in it. It also holds most of his assets, if the space really come with him, then he won't have to worry about living in this strange world.